Coming Together, Falling Apart
by pingo1387
Summary: Half the crew wants Nami and Luffy to be a couple. The other half want to make sure that doesn't happen. And the last is just sitting on the sidelines and observing the results.
1. The Crew Is Split! An Unknown Rivalry!

**This story takes place between the Davy Back Fight and the point where they reach Water 7**

* * *

"Pst! Chopper! Over here!"

Chopper stopped and looked around for the source of the voice. Ah, there he was – inside Nami's tangerine bushes. With a grin, he cried "Usopp!"

"Shh!" Usopp whispered, waving his arms. "Come here!"

Chopper curiously obeyed, crawling into the space Usopp was sitting cross-legged in. "What is it, Usopp?"

"Ah-ah-ah," he said, shaking a finger. "Remember what you call me!"

"…what is it, Captain Usopp?"

"Good! Now," said Usopp, leaning in. "Have you noticed that Luffy and Nami seem… _closer_, ever since the Davy Back Fight?"

Chopper thought for a moment. He glanced over at the aforementioned crewmates. Luffy was grinning and pointing something out on a map to Nami, who smiled and shook her head, indicating that no, that was not the meat island. He turned back to Usopp and nodded.

"Well, what do you think about them being together?"

"Together?"

"You know…" Usopp made kissing motions with his hands.

"Oh… hm… yeah! Now that I think about it, Luffy and Nami would be really happy together!"

"Then don't you think that they need a little…" Usopp wriggled his eyebrows, which was a little bit creepy. "…_persuasion_?"

"Persuasion?"

Usopp started saying some things in whispered tones and Chopper brightened. He nodded eagerly.

"Good!" Usopp exclaimed, standing up. "Then let Operation "Captain-Usopp's-Awesome-Get-Them-Together-Plan" be commenced!"

"Usopp! Chopper!" yelled Nami, coming up the stairs. "Get the hell out of my tangerines!"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

"Pst! Moss-head!"

Zoro woke up from his tri-daily nap to see Sanji beckoning him from the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow, but stood up and strolled to the dining area anyway.

"What is it, ero-cook?" he muttered, stretching. "You wanna…" he yawned. "You wanna fight?"

"Not this time. Listen, have you noticed that Luffy and Nami-_swan_ seem… _closer_, ever since the Davy Back Fight?"

Zoro glanced outside, where Luffy was grinning and pointing out something on a map to Nami, who smiled and shook her head, indicating that no, that was not the meat island. He turned back to Sanji and nodded.

"Well, you know that I love Nami-_swan_…"

"Everybody knows that."

"…and we all know that you have a crush on Luffy…"

"Now hold on a minute!" he blustered. "I have no such crush! I-I don't like guys!"

"Sure, whatever you say. Anyway, if those two get together…"

"Together?"

Sanji made kissing motions with his hands, and then a slightly more inappropriate gesture.

"Oh."

"Then we'll both lose our loved ones! You'll lose your precious Luffy, and I'll lose… sniff… Nami-_swan_…" tears started pouring from his eyes.

"Jesus Christ, fine! I'll help you!"

"You know that I'd never team up with you, but this is not a one-man operation."

"Yes, I know. Now you think of something to keep them apart. I'm going back to sleep."

"Idiot moss-head! You have to participate!"

But Zoro was already asleep.


	2. The First Strike! Team Luna Attacks!

"Usopp! What are we gonna do first?" exclaimed Chopper excitedly.

"Sh! Listen, I have a brilliant plan!" Usopp whispered in Chopper's ear and Chopper giggled and nodded.

"That sounds great, Usopp!"

"And would you expect any less from the great Captain Usopp?" Usopp struck a pose that resulted in him falling on his side and twisting his leg in an odd way. Chopper quickly snapped it back in place.

"T-Thanks…"

* * *

Luffy headed in the general direction of the kitchen, while Nami left the same area, having just talked to Sanji about dinner. Usopp, hiding behind the mast, whispered "Now!"

Chopper walked in front of Luffy and Usopp came barreling out from his hiding place. He knocked Luffy accidentally-on-purpose down, who tripped over Chopper and fell directly into Nami. Their faces ended up so close to each others' that they were practically touching. Nami turned red and quickly rolled away, letting Luffy fall on his face.

"What're you trying to pull?" she yelled. Luffy got up, rubbing his back.

"It wasn't my fault! Something knocked into me from behind and then I tripped on something!"

"Oh? Funny, I don't see anything!"

Luffy looked around, but his voice died in his throat; there was nothing around that could have tripped him or knocked into him. He kept protesting his innocence, but Nami refused to listen and instead stalked off to her room. Luffy scratched his head while Usopp cursed from the tangerine bushes.

"Damn it! So close!"

"You were trying to make them kiss, right?"

"Yeah… but we'll have to switch to plan B!"

"Ooh!" said Chopper, his eyes sparkling. "What's plan B?"

"…"

"Usopp?"

"Um… of course I have a plan B! I just don't want to tell you yet so I can surprise you later!"

"Oh, it's a surprise!"

"Ha, yeah!"

"Anyway… Chopper," he continued in a more serious tone. "If we're going to be a team on this… we have to have…"

"A name?"

"No! A name!"

"Ooh, a _name_! Good idea!"

"I know! I already thought of one, too: Team Captain Usopp And His Subordinate!"

"…How about… Team Luna!"

Usopp cocked his head. "Luna?" he cocked it further so that it was neatly horizontal. "You mean the moon?"

"No, you see…" explained Chopper. "Lu is the first part of Luffy and Na is the first part of Nami! Luna! Plus, it can mean moon, and some people think that the moon is really romantic!"

"Hm… okay! We'll be Team Luna!"

"You're amazing, Usopp – I mean, _Captain_ Usopp!"

"I know, right?"

* * *

Sanji glanced up from the stove just as Luffy fell into Nami. He was about to run out when Nami rolled out from under him and started yelling. He looked back at the stove, only to look up again when Zoro entered.

"What d'you want, Moss-Head?" he asked by way of greeting.

Zoro stretched. "Just came to ask you about something."

"Oh?"

"…if we're going to… (ugh)… work together…"

"…"

"…shouldn't we have a name for our team?"

"…that's not a bad idea for a shitty swordsman. Hm… what about Team Bad Romance?"

"…that sounds stupid."

"And you can think of a better one?"

"…"

"That's what I thought," he said, smirking and returning to the stove.

* * *

**So Zoro and Sanji's team name could also apply to themselves... XD too bad neither realizes that...**

**Also, I noticed that an alarming amout of you (read: 3) posted reviews that asked me not to make Zoro gay. I'm sorry, but he ****_does_**** have a crush on Luffy; he just denies it. If you really don't like that, you don't have to read the story, I don't mind.**


	3. Counterattack! Team Bad Romance!

"Anyway," continued Sanji, "I have a plan to start off keeping them apart."

"I'm all ears."

"Hm… Robin-_chwan_ could be all ears if she wanted to… but never mind, you'll find out at dinner tonight."

"Don't put disturbing images in my head, ero-cook."

* * *

**At dinner tonight**

"Woo-hoo! Dinner! Sanji, give me some of that meat!" Luffy raced towards the table, but Sanji kicked him into the wall.

"Don't break the ship!" yelled Usopp.

"Hold your horses, Luffy. I have a suggestion that I'd like to try for at least one night."

"We're listening, Sanji-_kun_."

"YES, NAMI-_SWAN_!" Sanji twirled for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing. "I'd like to try out a seating chart for mealtimes."

"A seating chart?"

"Yes. So Luffy, you sit here… moss-head, over here, Usopp and Chopper are here…" he continued seating everyone until Zoro was sitting next to Chopper, who was sitting next to Usopp, who was sitting next to Luffy. Across from Chopper was Robin, who sat next to Sanji, who also sat next to Nami.

"Ooh, this is a good arrangement!" Chopper wriggled in his seat. Usopp frowned and glanced around the table.

"I dunno…"

"Aw, what's wrong with it, Usopp?"

Usopp rubbed a finger on his lips. Chopper nodded in understanding; the two had developed a sign language earlier in case the need for it arose. Rubbing a finger on the lips meant 'we'll talk later'.

"So what does everyone think?" Sanji seemed to be in paradise with two lovely ladies sitting on either side of him. Nami looked extremely uncomfortable when Sanji put an arm around them both; Robin just sprouted a few hands and peeled Sanji's arms off both of them. He pouted.

Zoro face-palmed himself: The arrangement, while keeping Luffy and Nami on opposite ends of the table, meant that Sanji would have both the girls to himself all the time. Not that he was jealous, but he didn't think that he could stand the sight of Sanji fawning over the girls at every meal.

Nami shifted a little bit in her seat. "Sanji-_kun_, would you mind telling us _why_ we're having a seating arrangement?"

"Ah, Nami-_swan_, it's just so that things will work and we can communicate!"

"Well…"

"I don't really like this!" Luffy pouted. "I want to be closer to the food!"

"…and there's another reason why."

Robin smiled.

"Can we just eat already?" whined Luffy.

"Eat! Eat! Eat!" Usopp and Chopper started pounding the table with their silverware. Sanji smacked them for their bad manners and got up to serve the food.

* * *

Chopper met Usopp in the tangerines after dinner. "So what's wrong with the seating, Usopp?"

"Didn't you notice? Luffy and Nami are really far apart!"

"Oh, they are! I didn't notice!"

"You don't think that Sanji is trying to… make sure that they don't get together?"

Chopper gasped.

"And he has a good reason, since he loves Nami!"

"You're amazing, Usopp! So can we use Plan B now?"

"Of course! I thought of it before dinner – I mean, I was saving it for this very moment!" He explained his plan to Chopper, neither of them noticing the ear and eye planted on a tangerine…

* * *

Robin pretended to read her book while listening in and watching Usopp and Chopper. She smiled and laughed a little bit.

* * *

**So the seating looks like this (the dash indicates that those two are sitting across from each other):**

**Zoro - Nami**

**Chopper - Sanji**

**Usopp - Robin **

**Luffy**


	4. Plan B! Direct Move On The Rubber Man!

"Okay!" Usopp said. "Plan B!"

"Yeah! Plan B!"

Usopp stepped out from his room and called to Nami and Luffy, who were sitting at the dining table with Zoro and Robin. "Oi! Luffy! Nami!"

They looked over and waved. "What is it, Usopp?" yelled Luffy.

"Can you guys come here? I need your help with something!"

They looked at each other and shrugged. Then they stood and strolled to where Usopp was (and unbeknownst to them, where Chopper was hiding). "What is it, Usopp?" asked Nami.

"Ah, well, I'm doing an experiment to make a new weapon, and I need you guys to watch over the chemicals!"

"Ooh! Sounds like fun!"

"Wait, why do you need both of us?" said Nami suspiciously. She had noticed her crewmates acting strangely lately, other than Luffy, whose strange behavior was normal, all the time, every day.

"Um, well, two heads are better than one!"

"But—"

"I need to go talk to Chopper about something! The test tubes are in your room, Nami! And Luffy, make sure to hold the pink one in your hands!"

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU EXPERIMENTING IN MY ROOM!?"

But Usopp was already running. Nami sighed. "I suppose we should go down. I hope that he doesn't take too long… I kind of have to use the bathroom."

Luffy grinned. "Don't worry, Nami, I'll watch them! It won't take long, right? Just go outside and do it!"

"Wait, outside?"

"Yeah, where else?"

"…where the toilet is…"

"WE HAVE A TOILET!?" Luffy gasped. "I didn't know that! I've just been going over the side of the boat!"

Nami hit him. "Let's just go already! I can wait!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Chopper had crawled out of his hiding place and joined Usopp across the ship. "So what's s'pposed to happen again, Usopp?"

"You see, Chopper, the pink liquid that Luffy should be holding is a love potion! If he holds it for more than five seconds, it will heat up and splash on his face and he will fall in love with the next person he sees!"

"You're amazing, Usopp!"

"I know, I know!"

* * *

Luffy picked up the tube of pink liquid. "Huh, what's this?"

"Usopp asked you to hold it, but I don't think that it's really necessary, right?" said Nami, who was keeping an eye on some other tubes that had different colored liquids.

"But he said I had to, so it might be important! This could be really cool mystery water!"

Nami opened her mouth, but at that moment the contents of the test tube shot up and hit Luffy's face. He spluttered and blinked, rubbing his eyes. Nami hurried over to him. "Luffy, are you okay!?"

He opened his eyes, still blinking some, and looked at Nami. He stared for at least ten seconds.

"Luffy…?"

"Nami… you…"

"What?"

"You're so… so… PINK!"

"_What_?"

Luffy looked around. "Agh! Everything's pink!" he rubbed his eyes again. "Get it off! Get it off!" He ran out of the room to ask Chopper for help. Nami stared after him, and as he left, Usopp came down.

"Hey, Nami, why was Luffy running away?"

Nami hit him. "It was _your_ fault, _baka_!"

"Eh?"

* * *

**I briefly considered having Luffy fall in love with Usopp instead of Nami, but that seemed too cliche.**

**Before I looked at the layout and pictures of the Going Merry (or the Merry Go, take your pick), I thought that it didn't have a toilet, so everyone just went over the side of the boat. Then I found out that it _did_ have a toilet, and I realized that Luffy would probably just go over the side anyway XD**

**And if you're wondering why Luffy had to hold it to make it explode, it has to do with the mixture being sensitive to heat. So Luffy's body heat from his hands warmed it up.**


	5. Suspicions Arise! Robin's Riddle!

"Pst! Luffy!"

Luffy looked around and saw Nami waving him from the cannon room. He grinned and yelled, "Hi, Nami!"

She glared and made shushing motions, along with a quick head tilt that said, 'come here'.

He got up and rocketed himself into the room, crashing headlong into the cannon. He got up, dusted off his shirt, and said, "What is it?"

"Listen, Luffy, is it just me, or has everyone been acting more strangely than usual?"

"Huh?"

"Usopp and Chopper have been sneaking off to meet in my tangerines (though I usually can't catch them at it), and for some reason, Zoro and Sanji have been meeting in the kitchen whenever Sanji's cooking dinner."

"…so?"

"Clearly they're all up to something! Now, Luffy, what do you think about asking Robin?"

"Asking…?"

"She probably knows what's going on; she always knows what's going on."

"Ooh, okay!" He ran out of the room and came back in a minute with Robin. "You ask her!"

Robin looked expectantly at Nami.

"Ah, sorry to bother you, Robin, but could you please tell us what's going on with the rest of the crew?"

Robin smiled. "What exactly do you mean, Navigator?"

"I think you know. Please tell us."

"_Gomen_. I know what they're up to, but I'd like to see how everything turns out. I can give you a hint about what's happening, however. But I'll give you the hint in a riddle, as it will be more satisfactory for you if you solve the riddle."

Nami groaned. "Let's have it, then."

Robin cleared her throat and began.

"_My first is foremost legally_

_ My second circles outwardly_

_ My third leads all in victory_

_ My fourth ends twice a nominee_

_ My whole is this gates only key_."

Nami finished writing down the riddle. "Thank you, Robin!"

Robin nodded and left the room to go back to her book.

* * *

**Erm... sorry about the short chapter. I promise a longer one next time ;)**

**And yes, Robin just has a bunch of random riddles floating around in her head.**

**Does anybody else think that Nami would take pictures if she saw two guys making out? Like Zoro and Luffy? Thoughts.**


	6. Temporary Separation! Meat And Medicine!

"Woo-hoo!" cheered Luffy. He jumped off the Going Merry onto the rocky sidewalks of the newest island. "Let's go find the meat shop!"

"Oi, Luffy, wait a minute!"

Luffy glanced back up at the ship. "Zoro? What is it?"

"Um, listen, love-cook here and I were going to head to the meat shop, so why don't you come with us?"

"Ooh! Yeah! Usopp, you wanna come?"

Usopp nodded. "Uh, yeah…" he was busy considering Zoro and Sanji's motives for planning to go to the meat shop together in the first place. They hated each other… so the only plausible explanation would be in order to keep Luffy and Nami apart.

He quickly thought of a plan worthy of the great captain Usopp. "Actually," he declared, "me, Chopper, and Nami were gonna head to some other stores for medical supplies!"

Chopper caught on and nodded; Nami, however, seemed confused. "What are you talking about? I never said—"

"Let's go! C'mon, Nami!"

Robin voted to stay and guard the ship, so Nami shrugged and followed Usopp and Chopper, while Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy headed to the meat shop, Luffy in the lead.

* * *

Luffy jumped around to every stand and counter in the meat shop. "Woo-hoo-hoo! Look at all this meat! Sanji, can we get this one? No, this one! Wait, I mean this one!"

Zoro and Sanji browsed the meat at the counter. "Luffy, get over here!" called Sanji. Luffy ran over.

"What? Ooh, this meat is good too!"

The three browsed the meat selections for a minute, and eventually Luffy spoke.

"Ne, Sanji… can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What?" Sanji looked up.

"Did you put poison in my food?" Luffy looked uncharacteristically serious.

"Why on _Earth _would I put poison in your food?"

Zoro raised his eyebrows. "Why d'you think that he poisoned your food, Luffy?"

"To make me feel weird around Nami," Luffy said matter-of-factly.

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other. "Um… weird how?" said Zoro.

"Like… um… my stomach or something feels kinda fluttery if I get really close to her."

"HOW CLOSE HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING TO NAMI-_SWAN_, YOU BAS—" Sanji took a deep breath. "I haven't been poisoning your food, Luffy!"

"Hm… I wonder why, then…"

Zoro thought fast. "You want to know what that weird feeling means, Luffy?"

"Huh? What?"

"It means… that… um… you should avoid Nami!"

"What? Why?"

"That weird feeling is… your body telling you that Nami's bad for you!"

"But it feels weird in a good way…"

"Right, that's it trying to trick you…" _Jeez, I could have come up with a better explanation. That'll never fool him_.

Luffy glared at his gut. "How dare you trick me? Take this!" He aimed a blow at his diaphragm. "And this!" He lifted a foot and twisted it so he could kick himself in the stomach. "And this! And—"

"Luffy, stop before you really hurt yourself…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Usopp, Chopper, and Nami were at a medicine supply store, where Usopp and Nami helped Chopper look for medicinal ingredients.

"So, Nami," said Usopp as casually as he possibly could, "I noticed that you've been spending a lot of time with Luffy!"

"Are you keeping track of how much time I spend with our captain?"

"No! No, I just happened to notice!"

"So what's it to you? We've just been talking about the islands in the Grand Line – but I guess it's more appropriate to say that _he's_ been talking to _me_ about which islands have the most meat…"

"…well, I think it's good that you two are spending more time together!"

"Excuse me? Why do you say that?" Nami looked at Usopp with some suspicion.

"Um, well, it's good for you two to have a relationship! Since he's the captain and you're the navigator…"

"By that logic, everyone should spend more time with Luffy."

"Yeah, but I'm talking about just you!" Usopp mentally clapped a hand over his mouth.

"And _why_ is that?"

Usopp was saved from answering by Chopper, who sensed the tension and popped up, saying "I got what I need! Let's go!"

* * *

**I think Zoro overestimated Luffy's intelligence a bit ;)**


	7. Back At The Ship! Nami's Wrath!

Back at the ship, the six crewmembers met with their supplies – Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy had ended up buying one of every kind of meat in the store. When Luffy saw Nami, he quickly moved to the other side of the ship. She stared at him for a moment before heading to her room. Sanji and Zoro smirked and secretly high-fived each other behind their backs.

After a while, Nami decided to take a break from her maps to talk to Luffy. But as soon as she got close to him, he moved away from her. She got close. He moved away. Close. Away. Close. Away. This continued for a while before she snapped.

"Luffy! Why the hell are you avoiding me!?"

He seemed surprised. "I'm not avoiding you, Nami! I'm just trying to stay away from you!"

"_Why_?"

"'cuz of what Zoro told me."

"What did he tell you?"

"He said that you were bad for me."

Nami put her head in her hands for a moment. She lifted it up and stalked into the kitchen, taking out her Clima Takt while she walked. For ten full minutes there came the sounds of crashes, curses, and breaking glass from the kitchen. She returned, stowing away her Clima Takt. Smiling sweetly at Luffy, she said "I believe that Zoro was mistaken, Luffy. You don't have to stay away from me."

"Really? Sweet!" He immediately got so close to Nami that their noses almost touched.

"Not that close!" She shoved him away into a pile of boxes. Usopp and Chopper chose that moment to come upon them.

"Oh, Nami, Luffy! Is this a bad time?" said Usopp. Nami turned and glared at him with such force that he took a step back.

"Usopp, I want answers _now_. I'm sure you know: Why did Zoro tell Luffy to stay away from me? He wouldn't tell me!"

Usopp looked angry. "He did? Then he shall face the wrath of Captain Usopp-_sama_ later!"

"And _why_ is that!?" Nami seemed ready to explode.

"Well, um, well, ah, um, eh, you know… he's obviously playing a bad prank, so, um, that's my area of expertise! Therefore I shall bestow upon him my wrath!"

"You're so _cool_, Usopp!"

Nami hit him.

"What was that for!?"

"No one's telling me what's going on, and I'm tired of it!" she stormed off to her room, leaving Usopp and Chopper nervous, and Luffy confused.

"I'm confused…" he said, tilting his head. "First Zoro tells me something that's not true, and Nami's angry… and Usopp's being weird…"

Usopp and Chopper snuck away for an emergency meeting.

* * *

Zoro and Sanji lay on the floor of the kitchen, rubbing their heads. "Damn, that witch can hit hard…"

"Stop insulting Nami-_swan_," said Sanji, but his protest seemed rather half-hearted. He sat up and walked in a circle a few times before going to the stove. "I'm going to make dinner…"

"Are you sure you're all right? Maybe I should help you…" Zoro tried to stand up, but instead of going to the stove to help Sanji with dinner, he stumbled out the door.

* * *

**Aaw, poor Zoro and Sanji XD BTW, Nami hit Sanji as well because Zoro said that Sanji made him tell Luffy that. Or something along those lines.**

**In related news, I now have a more specific plan for this fanfic :D What? I mean, of course I wasn't just randomly going nowhere before... *looks away***


	8. A New Island And A Secret Code!

**I... I am so sorry this is late. I have no real excuse. **

**...**

**(I'm so screwed, I don't even have an ****_idea_**** for tomorrow's fanfic...)**

* * *

Crew dynamics had been falling apart in the past few days. Nami was angry at Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji, Usopp and Chopper had the rivalry thing going on with Zoro and Sanji (though the latter two weren't aware), and poor Luffy was just confused about the entire thing.

Once they made land on a large island (despite these rifts), Luffy insisted on exploring, and Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Usopp came as well. Once again, Robin stayed behind, and Chopper too.

"Meat!" cried Luffy. "Let's look for some meat!"

"In a minute, Luffy – wait, we just got meat the other day."

"Nami-_swan_, did you want to look for some paper?" cried Sanji.

"Good idea, Sanji-_kun_, but I think I'm set with paper for now."

The four walked for a while, Zoro and Sanji having to hold back Luffy at every food shop. At some point Luffy ran off somewhere, so Zoro and Nami chased after him. Sanji chased after Nami, and eventually all of them were separated.

"Oi!" called Luffy, wandering around. "Zoro! Nami! Sanji!" He stopped and scratched his head. "Aw, now I don't know where they are _and_ the meat shop's gone!"

Gyrating around the corner into a new alleyway, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a net being thrown over him. But writhing and twisting only got him tangled up further. He soon fell over on his side, hopelessly entangled in the ropes, and was approached by a young man wearing a navy uniform that must have been no older than 16.

"Eureka!" he exclaimed. "I actually did it! I caught the criminal Monkey D. Luffy, the infamous Straw Hat! Those guys at the top will _have_ to promote me now!"

Twisting around in the net (which didn't help his situation), Luffy growled, "What's the navy doing here!?"

"Ha, well, there's a small base on this island, actually. It's not very well-known. Anyway, I'll be taking you in now…"

Expertly hoisting the net over his shoulder, he began carrying Luffy to the base.

* * *

Roronoa Zoro was lost. This was nothing new, but unfortunately, he had managed to get himself lost inside the small navy base that rested on the island. Keeping a careful eye out, he rounded the corner, only to directly bump into the cleaning crew.

"Fu—"

At the sight of pirate hunter Zoro, the cleaning crew called for help. Zoro put a hand on his swords, but behind him, about five guns were cocked and pointed at his head.

"Listen," said a gruff voice. "You make one move and we'll shoot. Got it?" In front of him, the cleaners' calls for help had been answered, and more guns pointed at him from the front.

Lingering for a moment, Zoro reluctantly released his swords and was roughly seized by the arms. He was dragged away at gunpoint while his swords were taken from him.

* * *

In the town, Nami and Sanji had reunited, much to Sanji's delight. Nami, of course, ignored him for most of the way. As they passed by a bar they heard some chatter:

"Navy's captured Straw Hat…"

"Got Roronoa Zoro too, I hear…"

As these words reached their ears, they froze. Sanji groaned. "Stupid _marimo_ got himself caught again…"

Plotting inside her head, Nami said "I think our best course of action is to rescue them. I'll rescue Luffy, while you rescue Zoro."

"Ah!? Nami-_swan_, why do I have to rescue the shitty swordsman?"

Rubbing the lump on his head a second later, Sanji sighed. "_Hai_, Nami-_swan_…"

Taking off from their place, the two snuck towards the navy base.

* * *

**Can you find the hidden message within this chapter? Whomever finds it first - and posts a review saying so - will recieve congrats in the next chapter :)**

**Here's a hint: This same type of code appeared in volume 7 of ****_A Series Of Unfortunate Events_**** (****_The Vile Village_****). **

**You might also say that this is quite an initial way to speak to someone.**

**(It also has to do with why I used weird words like 'gyrate' and 'eureka'.)**


	9. Nami Attacks! The Riddle Is Solved!

**Aaaand we're back! I apologize for the no-update thing last Monday - my reason being that I was on a week-long hiatus (updating every day was becoming difficult, so I needed a break). No hard feelings, right?**

**...right?**

**...um, readers, please put the guns down, you're making me nervous...**

**Anyway, the first person to correctly decipher the code was ninja pirate princess. Congratulations!**

**The message was simply "Coming Together Falling Apart", or if read literally, "COMING TOGETHER FALLING APART". In order to decipher this, one just had to read the first letter of each new paragraph. **

* * *

Nami crouched behind some cargo and peered over the edge. No soldiers in sight… shit. They probably had Luffy and Zoro under heavy guard. Of course they did; those two had bounties of over 50,000,000 Berries each. But at least it would make getting _in_ easier.

She figured that Sanji would be thinking along the same lines – he was on the other side of the fairly small base, the two having split up to take different paths. Leaping over the pile of boxes and barrels, she snuck over to the entrance and pressed her hand up against the door, expecting some resistance, some kind of lock she would have to pick. But to her surprise, the door easily swung open, throwing her off balance slightly. Huh.

_Pretty low security here,_ she thought.

Sneaking through the halls, occasionally pulling back to hide behind corners while a couple of privates patrolled the corridors, she made her way to the outside of a room with a window. Nami glanced in, moved on, stopped, and moved back. Discreetly peeking through the glass, she saw Luffy tied up in a chair, his back to her, flanked by two soldiers and facing someone sitting at a desk – presumably one of the higher-ups. She couldn't hear much through the glass, but she did realize that the man was most likely interrogating Luffy. Luffy was shaking his head, probably indicating that he wasn't going to answer.

As she started thinking about a plan to rescue him, she jumped at someone speaking behind her. "Excuse me, miss…"

Nami whirled around to find a young man, lifting up his cap to see her more clearly, a mop and bucket leaning against the wall behind him. So he was a chore boy.

"Miss, I'm afraid civilians aren't allowed in here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

She thought fast. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry, mister! You see, I just wanted a quick look around! I've _never_ seen the inside of a navy base before, and it just seemed so _interesting_!"

The chore boy looked surprised. "Well, miss; to be frank, it's not all that exciting inside the base. Anyway, as I said, you'll have to leave n—"

"Oh," Nami interrupted him, "but I _so _was looking forward to seeing the full base! Do you think you could…" she leaned forward slightly, allowing him a glimpse of cleavage, "…give me a little tour?"

He turned pink. "Well, I'd, um, I'd have to, you know, ask my superior if it's all right…"

"Oh, is he one of your superiors?" Nami pointed behind him. The unfortunate boy turned around to the empty air behind him, only to be immediately knocked out by Nami's Clima Takt. She stowed it away and quickly dragged the boy into a nearby broom closet, having to leap into it herself and halfway shut the door as the office door opened and Luffy came out, wrists handcuffed behind him, and once again flanked by the two soldiers. She snuck out, shut the door, and stealthily followed them.

* * *

The soldiers led Luffy to a jail cell, the bars embedded with Sea Stone. Luffy was thrown inside and the soldiers (along with several others) moved back to their positions and took up guard once again. Nami peeked around the corner, counted the soldiers, and concluded that there were too many for a direct physical attack with the baton itself. But if she could utilize the weather balls somehow, perhaps she could free him.

_Okay,_ she thought, _I have the Heat Ball, Cool Ball, and Thunder Ball… the air in here is moderate, an even temperature… let's try for a storm_.

She took the Heat Pole, whispered "Heat Ball!" and blew into it. Several faint, red orbs floated out of the end and hovered above the guards. They looked around, confused.

"Is it just me," said one, "or is it getting warmer in here?"

"Yeah, it is!"

Another guard glared into the jail cell. "We didn't ask you, Straw Hat."

As they spoke, Nami whispered "Cool Ball!" and blew into the Cool Pole. Just like before, several faint, blue orbs floated out and hovered over the guards, mingling with the Heat Balls. The guards were looking side to side, but not up, where the dark cloud was starting to form.

The final touch: "Thunder Ball!" she whispered, blowing into the Thunder Pole and releasing about four yellow, crackling orbs. As they floated towards the cloud, she yelled from behind the corner "Luffy! Get away from the bars!"

"Nami?" exclaimed Luffy. He finally noticed the cloud and nodded, backing to the far wall of the small cage. The guards turned towards the unfamiliar voice, raising their guns, but at that moment the lightning struck, taking them all down. Nami stepped around the corner and over the fallen guards. Luffy ran up to the bars and grinned.

"Hi, Nami!" he said happily. "How'd you get in?"

"Security's pretty low here, but that's not important." Turning back to the unconscious on the ground, she searched their pockets until she found the key to the cell and handcuffs. Nami unlocked the door and Luffy leapt out.

"Hey, you think you could free my hands?" He turned around and she swiftly unlocked the cuffs. He rubbed his wrists. "Thanks! Let's go!"

Nami shoved him. "_I'll_ lead the way. You're almost as bad as Zoro when it comes to direction."

"Okay, okay…"

Nami and Luffy darted through the halls, having almost no trouble until they reached the entrance. A dozen guards waited for them there, guns cocked.

"Stop right there, Straw Hat! We saw what you did to those guards and we've been waiting for you here!"

Nami raised her hands in the air. "How the hell did you all make it here before us!?"

"We practically live in the base! We know the shortcuts better than anyone!" the one speaking directed his gun at Luffy, the others following suit. "Straw Hat! Put your hands in the air!"

Luffy frowned. "No."

"Don't make us shoot, Monkey D. Luffy!"

"No." Luffy walked in front of Nami. "Nami, get out of the way, okay?"

She nodded and ducked down by his feet.

"That was your last warning, Straw Hat!" The guards fired at once into Luffy. He caught the bullets in his body – they stretched to points out his back, ripping his vest, and he flung them back at the guards. They all yelled and ducked.

"C'mon, Nami!" Luffy grabbed her, slung her onto his back, and jumped over the guards, crashing out the door. He carried her this way, piggyback, down the street and towards the harbor.

"Luffy," she said in his ear as he ran between two shops, "thank you for saving me."

"Well," he replied, "you saved me! So now we're even, right?"

She shook her head. "I think I was in more danger, so I owe you now."

"Nami, we're even!"

"We're not—" she suddenly fell silent. Luffy glanced back to see her with a surprised look, her cheeks turning pink.

"Nami?"

She looked back at him, obviously distracted. "Oh, um… Luffy, I'll tell you back at the ship…"

He shrugged and continued running – Usopp spotted him, waved, and shouted. As he jumped onto the ship (along with Sanji, who was carrying Zoro piggyback as well, for some reason), Nami scarcely noticed it because she was quite preoccupied with what she had just realized.

She had figured out Robin's riddle.

* * *

**Don't worry, we'll see what happened with Dartboard Brow and Shitty Marimo next chappie ;)**


	10. Zoro's Hurt? Sanji Breaks In!

**Once again, I apologize for the late update. But hey, it's a longer chapter than usual!**

* * *

Sanji ran up to the navy base and crouched behind some boxes. He noticed that there weren't any guards and figured that they all must be watching Luffy and Zoro…

_Just like that shitty _marimo_ to get mixed up in this…_

He cautiously approached the door and kicked it down with almost no resistance.

_Geez, either they're really cheap or they don't get paid enough here._

Sneaking down a hallway, he pressed himself against a wall and eavesdropped to some voices behind a thin door.

"I want an answer, and I want it now! Where are the rest of your crew!?"

There was a spitting sound, followed by the sound of someone being slapped.

"Take him away! We'll see him again later! You better have learned some respect by then, Roronoa Zoro!"

The door opened and Sanji slunk behind a corner, peeking out. Zoro was handcuffed, being frog-marched by marine grunts back to his cell. As he rounded the corner and disappeared, Sanji heard a crash and a shout of pain. Next, Zoro attempted to hop on one leg around the corner. But with both hands tied up and one leg out of commission, he was easily caught and marched away again. Sanji groaned. And then he nearly leapt out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Sir?" said the corridor patroller, adjusting his cap. "Civilians aren't allowed inside the building. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

Sanji put a finger to his chin. "How about… no." Raising his left leg, he exclaimed "_Collier Shoot_!" and knocked out the unsuspecting marine with one swift kick to the neck.

With that out of the way…

* * *

Sanji eventually made it to Zoro's cell, only to backtrack suddenly. The cell was heavily guarded by marines. Well, shit.

_If I try to take them all on at once_, he mused, _some will surely call for help. This is such a small base that someone will hear them right away and come running… if I could only get them out of the way…_

An idea came to him. Reaching into his suit pocket, he pulled out a spare lighter, placed it on the ground, and kicked it as quickly and precisely as possible. Perfect shot: the lighter clicked on the far wall and skidded around the corner.

"Who's there?" shouted the marines, raising guns and swords. Not waiting for an answer, they charged away to face the non-existent enemy.

_Stupid marines. They _all_ went_.

Approaching Zoro's cell, he glanced down at the swordsman. He was still handcuffed, and one of his legs was stretched out in front of him. He looked up at Sanji's approach and groaned.

"Great. It had to be _you_."

"Would you rather rot in a cell?" Sanji pushed the cell door open. Zoro opened his mouth.

"That was open the entire time!?"

"These folks don't seem so concerned about security. Either that or they're just cheap." He took a drag from his cigarette. "Let's get going."

Zoro glared. "In case you didn't notice, I'm handcuffed and my swords are missing!"

"Keep your voice down, _baka_." Sanji studied the handcuffs before turning around. "Be right back."

"W—!"

* * *

The marine captain's day was turning from good to bad. At first, everything had been fine: They had captured the infamous pirate hunter – or, _former_ pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro. After that, things went downhill. The man refused to spill anything in the interrogations, as well as his simple-minded captain. Tapping his pen on the desk in frustration, he lifted a mug of tea to his lips…

The door burst open – literally flying off its hinges. The captain spluttered into his tea, getting it on his face. Glaring at the figure, he yelled "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh," said the young man, lowering his foot that he had apparently just kicked the door down with, "pardon me." He took a couple of steps in and started rummaging around in his coat pocket.

"I'm warning you—"

Sanji held up a hand and the captain automatically fell silent. Finally, he pulled something out and tossed it up high into the far corner of the room, behind a bookshelf.

"What… what was that?"

"Oh, nothing special. But if you don't want it to explode and take you and the entire base down with it, then you _may _want to diffuse it quickly."

The captain gasped and ran over to the bookshelf. Puffing, he managed to pull it back within a minute (spilling several books as he did so) and promptly fell upon the small object. He brought it up to eye level, blinked, and stared.

It was a cigarette pack. Nothing more.

Turning back, he realized that the man was gone… and as he looked in the corner, he realized that Roronoa's swords were gone as well.

"Backup!" he yelled. "Get backup! Roronoa's going to escape!"

* * *

Zoro stared as Sanji walked in with the swords. "Great. Thanks and whatever. Can you cut these now?"

Sanji took the _Kitetsu III _and sawed away at the chain, with Zoro yelling at him to be careful with his precious sword. At last Zoro had more freedom of his hands.

"_Now_ can we go?"

Zoro stood up, but fell over again almost immediately. "Jesus," he hissed. "My leg's busted…"

Peering at the base of the hurt ankle, Sanji saw some splotching of an ugly purple color.

"Oh, for God's sake," he muttered. Bending down, he scooped up Zoro and slung him onto his back. "C'mon."

"WHAT THE _HELL_ DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"How else are you going to get out of here!?"

"I can manage by myself!"

Sanji pinched the bruised area and Zoro yelled out in pain.

"That's what I thought. Now hold on!"

Zoro reluctantly wrapped his arms around Sanji's torso. The latter took off running, sweeping through the passageways with the grace of a gazelle. There was gunfire at the other end of the building… what was going on there? Never mind that…

Zoro had never realized that Sanji could move so swiftly, even while carrying someone on his back. His body was quite warm from the energy he burned as he bounded out the door and down the street…

_What the _hell _am I thinking?_

Meanwhile, Sanji was constantly adjusting his weight as to not fall over. Carrying Zoro on his back was something he'd never done before, and it was quite tiring. The man was so muscular, after all, and it didn't help that he seemed to be leaning closer to him…

_What the _hell _am I thinking?_

Sanji bounded onto the Going Merry, as well as Luffy, who was carrying Nami piggyback, for some reason. As Usopp and Chopper hurried forward to help, Sanji and Zoro turned back to muse over their thoughts…

* * *

**I will most likely end this next chapter, just FYI.**


	11. Couples And Blackmail! The Last Chapter!

**Yoyoi! I am so sorry for updating this late! I shall take full responsibility and cut open my stomach! ****_Tekkai!_**

***clang***

**...I can't die...**

* * *

It had been about a day since the escape from the naval base. Zoro's ankle had been over-attended to by Chopper, and it was healing up nicely – though for now, he had to use a cane. Surprisingly, Sanji hadn't made fun of him once. Luffy had been loading up on meat (although this wasn't unusual), and Nami had shut herself in her room and barely come out since.

Now, Sanji was below deck, smoking a cigarette and starting to come to some strange conclusions about what had happened yesterday. As if he had conjured him, a certain green-haired swordsman came hobbling down the stairs.

"Oi," he said. "Here you are."

"Here I am."

Zoro plopped himself down next to Sanji. "Mind telling me why you're down here?"

"Just thinking about stuff."

"So have I. Actually, I wanted to say something about that."

Sanji tensed up slightly. "Well?"

"Well… you see, I don't think we have any more reason to break up Luffy and Nami."

"Are you going to tell me why, or are you just going to leave me hanging?" Sanji blew some smoke in Zoro's face. The latter waved it away and glared.

"The thing is… I've found someone."

"Really? I pity the poor girl who has to bear the brunt of your hopeless affections. What's her name?"

"His."

"Pardon?"

"My… my new someone is a guy. You were right, I'm gay." Zoro glared at Sanji again. "Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all."

Zoro relaxed a little bit. "Good. That's good."

"So, back to my question: Who is he?"

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck and turned away. "The thing is… I don't know if he'll like me back." He took a breath. "He's a stupid dart-board brow blond love-cook."

Silence followed this proclamation. Zoro sighed and started to stand up, reaching for his cane, but Sanji muttered "Wait."

"Uh?"

"I think you should know that I found someone too."

"Well, hurry up and get it over with," Zoro said, sitting back down. "Is it Nami or Robin?"

"Neither."

"Then who is she?"

"He."

"…_excuse_ me?"

"I'm bisexual. You probably don't know what that means."

"Of course I do, you _baka_."

Sanji blew out another puff of smoke. "My new someone, you see, just happens to be a shitty moss-head crap-swordsman."

Zoro stared at Sanji. "I see."

"So, are we…" Sanji looked at him. "…in agreement?"

"As long as you don't ogle any girls."

"But it's in my nature. I can't help it."

"Prince of Dumbass Kingdom."

"Moss Ball."

* * *

Luffy strolled into Nami's room without knocking. "Hey, Nami, I just walked in on Zoro and Sanji making out."

Nami looked up from her maps with a glint in her eye. "Really? Hm…" She muttered some things to herself, like 'keep it a secret' and 'worth a lot of money'. She grabbed a camera and ran out of the room, coming back a minute later with an evil grin.

"Luffy, do me a favor and don't tell anyone else about what you saw, okay?"

"Sure."

"Anyway, Luffy," said Nami, her voice a little bit more serious now. "Could you please shut the door? I want to talk to you privately."

Luffy shut the door and, as an afterthought, pulled the curtain over the porthole window. "What is it, Nami?"

"I'll get straight to the point. I've solved the riddle that Robin gave us."

"Ooh! What is it?" He bounced on his toes excitedly.

"It's…" she took a breath. "The answer's 'love'."

He tilted his head. "How is it…?"

"I'll explain later. And it does explain the recent actions of Usopp and Sanji. But, Luffy… the truth is…" she fiddled with her hands. "I… well, I actually _do_ like you. A lot…" she turned pink.

"I like you too, Nami!"

"No, Luffy, I meant—I meant that I love you!"

He stared at her, apparently trying to comprehend the statement. She turned away. "I should have known you wouldn't understand."

"Wait, Nami," he said in an unusually serious tone. "Can I try something?"

She nodded, hesitantly. Luffy wasted no time bringing her close to him and hugging her tightly. She gasped before relaxing slightly in his grip. He released her a moment later and clapped his fist to his open palm.

"So _that's _it!"

"What's it?"

"Well, see, whenever I'm near you, I get this weird feeling in my stomach! And hugging you makes it better! Weird, I always thought it was hunger… so it's love!" he grinned, looking quite pleased with himself.

Nami was silent for a bit before quietly saying "Um… well, Luffy, do you want to… you know… date?"

"Date? Like the fruit?"

"No, the other kind of date."

"There's another kind!?"

Nami sighed and smiled. "Come with me."

* * *

Usopp led Chopper to the tangerine bushes. "Alright, Chopper, Nami's been in her room for the past few days, so we need to figure out how to get her out of there and closer to Luffy!"

"Yeah!" Chopper agreed quietly, trying not to alert Robin (who was reading on deck) of what they were up to.

Usopp pulled back the tangerine bushes, only to stare at what he saw and quickly withdraw with a huge grin on his face. "Chopper," he whispered. "I believe that our work here is done."

"Huh?" said Chopper, whispering as well. "What do you mean?"

In response, Usopp gestured to the bushes. Chopper quietly pulled them apart and gasped.

Luffy and Nami were seated together, Nami in Luffy's lap, kissing sweetly and tenderly. Both seemed to be enjoying it very much. Chopper giggled and went back to Usopp.

"We did it, Captain!"

"Yes!" Usopp high-fived Chopper – as much as one _could_ high-five someone with a hoof. "Team Luna is officially disbanded!"

* * *

"WHAT!?"

Nami _tsk_'d. "Zoro, Sanji-_kun_, do you really want the whole crew to come running?"

The three were currently below deck, Zoro and Sanji having been invited by Nami. She'd just shown them the many pictures she'd taken of the two men kissing.

"Anyway, if you don't want the whole crew knowing of your, ah, _special relationship_—which I assume you don't—then you'd better cough up the money." She held out an expectant hand, a glint in her eye. "Five thousand berries per picture~!"

"Nami-_swan_, you're the one with all the money on this ship!"

"You witch! I just got out of my debt to you and now this!"

"Oh, don't worry; I'm sure I'll find _some_ way to make you pay me, with or without money!"

"NAMI-_SWAN_!"

"GET BACK HERE, WITCH!"

* * *

~Fin~

* * *

**Thank you to Moonlight Calls for the idea of Nami using the photos as blackmail! I'm sorry I didn't get your permission first, Moonlight, but I typed this today, and I was afraid that you'd take too long to reply to a request. I'll change it if you want me to :)**

**ALSO! I am very sorry for not warning you all earlier that there would be ZoSan in this! But if I had told you, it would have ruined the ending. Sowwies! X(**

**Story's done! Thank you for all your support, minna-sama~!**


End file.
